News and Events

Increased financial pressures and declining enrollment are forcing small private colleges to adapt. For many, a curriculum redesign is the way forward. Florida Memorial University (FMU) is facing many of the same pressures as other colleges and universities across the country—they’re working to tackle mounting pressures and adjust to a changing landscape.

On August 6, the Lab led a human-centered design session for the 2019-20 cohort of ACE Fellows, a diverse group of 38 aspiring leaders in higher education. We were honored to join them on the first day of their opening retreat to provide practical guidance on how they can apply a human-centered design lense to transform their institutions.

21st century skills—otherwise known as soft skills, human skills, or mobility skills—are the future of work. The last time we dove into skills mapping, we aimed to help our partners better understand it as a key tool for designing educational programs that better equip learners for the needs of an evolving workforce. So, what do you do if you’re not able to quickly and drastically redesign your curriculum to meet employer’s skill needs? Meet 21st century skills curriculum mapping.

More News and Events

We celebrated the Lab’s 5th anniversary and The Learner Revolution’s release with an intimate dinner and fireside chat featuring George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera and Amazon Web Services Senior Manager of Worldwide Education Programs Ken Eisner, moderated by our very own Kathleen deLaski.

Can you imagine the day when your degree will be based on what you can do, not what you know? And that digital “stacks” of competencies could get you hired without a degree, and that learning outside the classroom, at work, in life could count toward your credential.

Five years ago, the Lab began with a vision to bring human centered design and other innovative tools to bear on the wicked problems that lie at the intersection of the rapidly changing postsecondary education landscape, the future of work and growing inequality. We set out to design and build new models with employers and partner institutions to help build more equitable futures for all learners.

Through #TeeUpTheSkills, we set out to find answers to the question everyone in digital badging is trying to figure out: do badges have market value for employers? Can digital badges level the playing field for underserved and non-networked learners in the hiring process?

With institutional administrators, we mapped out the milestones of Erica’s journey from her decision to apply to college through five years after graduation. We then mapped the emotions associated with each milestone (anxiety when applying to school, confusion when picking a major, jubilation at graduation, and uncertainty out in the “real world”). Did we find blind spots and sticking points? You bet.

This month we traveled to Albuquerque, NM, to kick off #TeeUpTheSkills with Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) and their employer partners, TLC Plumbing and Jaynes Corporation, a construction company.

The first stop on our #TeeUpTheSkills tour was a place with an urgent need for employer-driven 21st Century Skills credentials: Bangor, Maine. When we engaged with employers, it became immediately clear that they were struggling to identify candidates with professional skills needed to be successful in entry level jobs.

Design Challenge Lead

Michelle is a Design Challenge Lead for the Lab’s Badging Challenge. Michelle is also the President of Lead by Experience, offering strategic and tactical consulting to help leadership teams across: business, health care and education improve their customer experience.

Through her coaching, Michelle loves to “gently” break up typical functional silos to stimulate collaboration and steer change management across organizations. She integrates new, cost effective, ways to capture and understand customers’ expectations, wants and needs.

Prior to establishing her own business, Michelle held executive positions in telecommunications at MCI and NII Holdings where she held the position of Senior Director of Customer Experience. Michelle earned a Masters of Arts degree in Education: Curriculum & Instruction from Loyola College in Maryland and completed an Executive Certification in Global Leadership from Georgetown University – the McDonough School of Business.

Michael Meotti

Higher Ed Fellow

Mike brings extensive experience in higher education policy, innovation and management to Education Design Lab’s work. Mike has a broad perspective on the challenges facing colleges and universities based on his past leadership positions in state government, nonprofit organizations and higher education systems. He has led transformation initiatives in all of these sectors.

Mike served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Higher Education and Executive Vice President and chief operating officer of the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.

Mike was a member of the Executive Committee and Vice Chair of the Federal Relations Committee of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). He led the Connecticut delegation in the National Governors Association Best Practices Academy “Complete to Compete” and in Complete College America. Michael was also active in the state policy track of Achieving the Dream and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Coalition for the Common Core Standards. He earned his J.D. and B.S. degrees from Georgetown University.

Prior to his work in higher education, Mike led several nonprofit organizations that provided services addressing the needs of many “first generation” and returning adult students.